Chapter 7: Beyond the Cliff’s Boundary

A speed that didn’t lose to a wild boar, even faster.

And unlike a wild boar, which struggles to adjust its charging direction or speed, this one was different.

Even if I dodged, it would immediately change direction and bare its fangs.

So what I chose was a head-on attack.

Shing!

I drew the sword from my waist and swung it horizontally at the wolf.

There was no need to summon Salamander.

My control skills were, needless to say, overwhelming.

Plus, thanks to the levels and stats I’d gained from hunting wild boars, a wolf was well within my capacity.

Slice!

“Yipe!”

A long gash appeared on the wolf’s flank, starting from the left corner of its mouth.

Startled by the unexpected attack, it regarded me with even greater caution.

“I guess one hit isn’t enough.”

Normally, this was a monster too strong for a trainee to catch.

With my level slightly increased, I’d thought it might be possible, but it seemed one blow wasn’t enough.

Still, there was no reason I would lose.

It was only a matter of time.

Stab!

The blade pierced its heart, and the wolf collapsed on the spot.

A battle that would have made anyone’s jaw drop if they had witnessed it.

A tutorial trainee taking down a wolf in just two strikes.

“Well, this is only possible because it’s a training ground wolf.”

Wolves are monsters that live in packs.

They never act alone like this one lying before me.

Whether it was the developers’ consideration for trainees, the wolves here stuck to solitary behavior.

[You have acquired Rough Wolf Hide.]

[You have acquired Sharp Wolf Fang.]

I started butchering immediately.

Pork was one thing, but I had no intention of taking wolf meat.

After intermittently taking down a few more wolves that recklessly charged at me, I soon reached the edge of the forest.

The plants looked increasingly withered.

Beyond them appeared a clean clearing with no vegetation at all.

The official end of the hunting grounds in front of the training ground.

And there stood a cliff so high you could barely see its top even when craning your neck at a ninety-degree angle.

Then,

Thud!

Stab!

“I’d heard rumors, but this is my first time seeing it in person.”

Unreal World was full of adventurous users who would go out of their way to dig up the ground even without NPCs asking or quests giving them a reason.

Digging the earth, climbing cliffs, breaking cliffs with pickaxes.

Praying that maybe there was a hidden quest or item.

There were all kinds of users.

And before me appeared exactly that kind of user—one of those “ground-digging” players I’d only heard rumors about.

“Huh? You came to dig too? I’ve already claimed this spot, so go somewhere else!”

When you have no teeth, you use your gums. Without a shovel, he was using the wooden sword meant for hitting scarecrows to repeatedly stab into the earth.

He’d dug so diligently that the hole was nearly two meters deep.

‘How long has he been digging?’

To dig that much with a wooden sword—his tenacity was certainly impressive.

‘He’d be better off hunting with that time.’

No matter how I looked at it, it was incomprehensible behavior.

Unless he had some kind of information or had regressed like me, such actions were simply a waste of effort.

“You’re not leaving? I said I claimed this spot! You won’t get any scraps, so go on! Shoo!”

“Ah, okay.”

Anyway, the destination Mr. Dustin had told me about wasn’t here.

Ignoring the user sweating and stabbing the ground with his wooden sword, I walked along the cliff.

Soon, the end of the cliff came into view.

Rather than the cliff’s end, it was more like the official boundary of the training ground hunting area.

An NPC was always stationed here to block users from entering.

“Stop right there! This area is off-limits. You look like a trainee—return to the training ground immediately!”

“Hello. You’re Mr. Jackson, correct? I’ve come on the recommendation of Mr. Dustin.”

“Huh? Dustin?”

Jackson.

He was the NPC in charge of the boundary of the training ground hunting area.

No matter what you tried, he’d just tell you to go back without giving any hint of a hidden quest, so everyone simply thought of him as a ‘guard’.

A man who wouldn’t budge no matter what kind of attempts users made.

Now, Jackson was reacting to Dustin’s name.

“Yes. For the Great Hero Gatros’s manual.”

“Shh!”

As I tried to state my purpose, Jackson flusteredly covered my mouth.

Well, given that I hadn’t known about it, Gatros-related matters were quite important information.

Not something to casually blurt out.

“Come inside first. We’ll talk there.”

***

‘So this is why no one ever got through.’

The structure was such that Jackson only reacted if you had Mr. Dustin’s help.

What I was curious about, though, was why Dustin—who hadn’t reacted for the ten years before my regression—reacted to me.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

“I live alone, so I don’t have much to offer.”

“Thank you. My throat was getting dry on the way here.”

Jackson’s hut.

It was a place so sparse it was hard to understand what he lived for.

Just a few basic pieces of furniture and his gear as a guard filled the room.

I downed the water Jackson brought me in one go.

Finally, he spoke.

“He sent you to find that manual? Dustin must have taken quite a liking to you.”

“Haha…”

“But I can’t just take Dustin’s word for it. I’ll have to test you a bit.”

“Test?”

Well, it was a legendary quest related to the Great Hero Gatros, after all.

There was no way it would go this smoothly.

[Sub-quest ‘Jackson’s Recognition’ for ‘Manual of the Great Hero Gatros’ has been created.]

Description: Pass Jackson’s test and earn his recognition.

Reward: Proceed to next quest stage.

Failure: Upper quest fails.

What kind of test would he give?

Given that the strongest monster around here was just a wolf, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult.

Just as Jackson was about to speak with a serious look,

Growl…

“Ahem, sorry about that. Given the time.”

Come to think of it, it was almost lunchtime.

Checking my status window, my satiety was moderately low.

Since I’d gained the ‘Cooking’ skill while grilling meat at the training ground, it was time to show my abilities.

“Then, may I prepare a meal for you?”

“Huh? Even so, I can’t ask a guest to do that. Let’s see…”

Jackson went to the kitchen and started preparing ingredients.

Peppers that looked fresh, as if picked this morning, and rice.

And ssamjang.

“Hoho. Well, for me, peppers and a bowl of white rice are enough, but I don’t have anything to offer a guest. It’s been so long since I’ve had any visitors.”

This was beyond sparse.

The man who until moments ago had looked charismatic in his armor now seemed somehow pitiful.

‘Ah, I have some meat left over, don’t I?’

I opened my inventory, and sure enough, there was a bit of pork belly left from yesterday that we hadn’t finished.

The ingredients weren’t plentiful, but seeing that menu made me want to give Jackson a proper meal.

“I’ll do it after all.”

“No, I really can’t ask a guest to…”

“I’d like to treat you to a meal.”

“If that’s the case, I’d be grateful. But I don’t have proper ingredients at home.”

Heh—.

I smiled at him as he looked apologetic and opened my inventory.

When I took out all the remaining pork belly, his face lit up.

“Where did that meat come from?”

Gulp!

It seemed Jackson hadn’t had meat in a while either.

With so many wild boars around, what did these people live on?

“May I use your kitchen?”

I placed the meat on the cutting board and took out a kitchen knife—no, the one-handed sword I’d received from the training ground.

***

“Hey, Deputy, the quest has started, right?”

“How would I know if it’s started?”

Unreal World’s Quest Management Department.

It was one of Unreal World’s core departments, coordinating the various quests in the game.

What they paid the most attention to were S-rank quests.

Often called Legendary, Mythic, etc., these were quests that could greatly impact Unreal World’s world view.

“You know, the one you said ‘There’s no way anyone will clear that!’ a while back.”

“Ah, you mean the training ground one? The Great Hero Gatros?”

“Yes, that one!”

“What kind of guy managed to get that quest? Bring up the screen.”

The Manual of the Great Hero Gatros.

True to its Legendary status, even the conditions to receive it were extremely demanding.

First, you had to show overwhelming strength to the supervisor.

Enough to qualify for a training ground hidden item called a manual—or even beyond that.

And you had to display such strength in at least three fields.

Easier said than done. Even meeting the conditions to own a single manual was difficult, but three abilities? It was a nearly impossible condition.

Furthermore, you had to build a certain level of affection with Dustin, the main NPC, as well as all the training ground supervisors.

“Is this the guy? He got this ridiculous quest?”

“Yes. Looking at it, he satisfied the conditions for the [Sword Mastery Manual], [Spirit Mastery Manual], and [Hunting Mastery Manual].”

“All the training ground manuals have already found owners, right?”

“Yes. A week ago.”

“Poor guy. For a user with that much ability to end up without a single manual.”

Manuals.

As Unreal World’s first hidden items, they possessed immense power.

As long as the owner’s talent and effort followed, they would allow the owner to exert overwhelming force in that field.

Such were those items.

“Huh? Poor? But he got a Legendary quest! That Great Hero! Gatros’s manual!”

“You don’t know the content of that quest, do you?”

“Of course not! Hehe.”

Just then, on the screen, the protagonist reached the first hurdle of the Legendary quest.

The NPC Jackson.

The boundary keeper of the training ground hunting area, and also a scholar who had once investigated the traces of Gatros.

“It’s impressive he got the quest, but he won’t get any further than this.”

“Why?”

“To earn Jackson’s recognition, he has to take a test befitting it. And that test is no joke.”

Jackson’s Recognition.

There were quite a few methods, but all of them were far from easy.

One example was hunting the boss monster boar called the ‘Reckless Tusker’.

It appeared as soon as the quest started, had to be challenged solo, and its stats were on par with level 40.

Meaning there was no way a trainee could ever catch it.

“So, wanna make a bet?”

“What? What bet?”

“If that user passes this, you’re buying beef tonight, Deputy!”

“And if I win?”

“Aw, you said there’s no way he’ll pass anyway.”

“Haha. Fine, okay. No, if I win, I’ll still get a free meal tonight at least.”

“Deal!”

As the two Quest Management Department employees were bantering,

the protagonist on the screen, Lee Chang, was preparing a meal to serve Jackson.

And through the speakers, his voice came through quietly.

[This time, the dish is…]